Only murky water for BN in S’gor?

While some so-called experts have expressed their views that Pakatan will lose Selangor due to the water crisis, it is nevertheless possible too that the BN may end up the loser instead.

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When Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak made a remark over the water crisis in Selangor, where water supply has been disrupted for days in some areas, many suspect that the government is using the crisis as a political tool.

During a gathering recently at Semenyih attended by supporters of the the Indian Progressive Front (IPF) and other Barisan Nasional component parties, Najib said water was a fundamental right of any human being.

He then added that the BN government will resolve the crisis if it is re-elected in the coming general election.

It is clear to many people that the BN has been toying with the water issue in Selangor since the fall of Selangor to Pakatan Rakyat in the 2008 general election.

It has been said on numerous occasions that the water crisis in Selangor is a non-existent issue and that it is being used to tarnish the image of the Pakatan state government.

There is little doubt in the public mind that the crisis, seen as a reflection of Pakatan’s inability to run the state, is being forced on the people of Selangor in an attempt to win their sympathy.

It is also clear to the public that it is an attempt to get the people to turn against the Pakatan state government.

While some so-called experts have expressed their views that Pakatan will lose Selangor due to the water crisis, it is nevertheless possible too that the BN may find itself ending up the loser instead.

The BN game plan

Nowhere in Selangor is the so-called water crisis being taken seriously by the people. In most cases, the criticism is always against the BN, rather than against Pakatan.

The people, it seems, are aware that water supply is not managed by the state but is run by what they now call “cronies” of the ruling regime.

Najib, in trying to reach the people’s hearts, said it was sad to see people, especially the older folk, “having to struggle and carry buckets of water to their flats”.

Most people would respond to Najib’s concern with disdain because they know that the crisis had been politicised, bringing sufferings to the people.

The BN game plan, crafted as early as 2008, saw sudden attacks against the Selangor state government over its management of water.

Besides the failed attempts at incriminating the state over sand thefts, among others, the water issue became the most useful game for the BN.

Yet Najib insisted, rather unwisely, that “this is not a political game”.

No one believes the crisis is the work of Pakatan; rather, almost everyone thinks it is a game played by BN.

The prime minister also said that the water crisis was “about the survival of the people”.

But the real question is whether the BN will be able to survive in the murky and dirty waters in Selangor. Will it also be able to survive in the wake of the recent opposition rally when more than 100,000 people turned out at Stadium Merdeka?

It looks like the new year unfolded with a bad omen for BN.

The huge, peacefuly rally, which was like a carnival in the city, did not augur well for the ruling coalition in Putrajaya.

The water crisis, man-made or natural, is not a good omen for BN. The people of Selangor believe that the BN is behind the crisis, and that they are made to suffer for supporting Pakatan.

KL-based Amir Ali works for an Indonesian NGO called the Warisan Melayu Riau, which is based in Bengkalis, Riau.

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